Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN) was awarded first place in the category for the highest number of investments completed at the first edition of the Ignition Partners Awards, organised by Portugal Ventures. The institution also took second place in the category for the highest number of applications submitted, securing a place on the podium in both categories assessed.
The awards ceremony took place on 9 November 2026 in Lisbon, during the Network Summit – an event organised by the Banco Português de Fomento Group’s venture capital firm at the EY Portugal offices – at the start of Web Summit week.
The Ignition Partners Awards assess the cumulative results achieved between 2020 and 2026 by the Ignition Partners within the Portugal Ventures network. These organisations play a strategic role in identifying innovative projects across the country, closely supporting entrepreneurial teams and preparing them to access venture capital. The IPN’s leading position in terms of investments actually realised highlights the technological maturity and business soundness of the start-ups incubated and accelerated in Coimbra.
“This distinction confirms the effectiveness of the Instituto Pedro Nunes model in bridging the gap between scientific research, entrepreneurial capacity-building and the capital markets. Rather than simply generating applications, our focus is on preparing technology-based companies with high potential for scalability and internationalisation to attract investment and grow sustainably,” emphasises Paulo Santos, Director of the Incubator and Accelerator at the Instituto Pedro Nunes.
The first edition of the Network Summit brought together, for the first time, the five networks that make up the Portugal Ventures community — Ignition Partners, Corporate Partners, Capital Partners, Experts and Founders — with the aim of presenting an integrated collaboration strategy to mobilise capital, knowledge and specialist skills to support the growth of Portuguese startups.
With over three decades of activity, the IPN is thus consolidating its position as one of the main drivers of the national innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem, actively contributing to the retention and attraction of highly qualified talent and to the international profile of the Coimbra region and Portugal.
